Qualities of Diegesis in Conceptual Curatorial Projects

• Author(s): Biryukova, Marina ; Dolák, Jan
• Date: 2020
• Origin: Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts
• Subject(s): Curatorial project; Contemporary art; Narrative; Diegesis; Context; Conceptual art; Desconstruction; Simulacrum
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

Many phenomena of modern culture may be perceived as analogous to text, but curatorial projects are spectacular in this regard, as their conceptions are available for reception and interpretation in the context of narrative analysis. Diegetic aspects of an exhibition help to clarify its idea and meaning. It is remarkable, that exhibitions of conceptualism, which are almost completely devoid of a coherent visual component (as demonstrated, for example, the exhibition Voids: A Retrospective (2009) at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, dedicated to interpretation of the category of “nothing” in contemporary art), could not avoid using text in form of comments, labels, catalogues, mediation services for the public. This article discusses the significant role of text in conceptual curatorial projects, and considers the relevant aspects of text: context, narrative, deconstruction, renaming, thesauration. Diegetic features which are distinctly present in the contemporary creative process, are undergoing metamorphosis, associated primarily with a change of attitude to the text from the 1960s: exaggeration of the text’s role, logocentrism of contemporary art, the need for context in art, and, at the same time, the reduction of semantic, meaningful content of text in the era of triumph of media simulacra.